Characterization of cellulase and xylanase activities of Clostridium celerecrescens

The production of cellulases and xylanase by Clostridium celerecrescens, a new anaerobic mesophilic cellulolytic bacterium, was studied using various substrates (cellobiose, xylan and cellulose Whatman CF-11). While both cellulase (β-1,4-D-glucan glucanohydrolase) and xylanase (β-1,4-xylan xylanohydrolase) were produced on cellulose, only the latter was produced when xylan was used as the sole carbon source. A weak p-nitrophenyl-β-D cellobiohydrolase activity was detected in the extracellular filtrates when using cellulose as a substrate. Otherwise, β-glucosidase (p-nitrophenyl-β-D-glucopyranosidase) was always found to be associated with the bacteria and reached its maximum levels of growth on cellobiose. In all cases, enzyme production showed a cell growth associated profile. Activities of these enzymes had their optimal values within the ranges of temperature and pH reported for the corresponding enzymes from similar anaerobic mesophilic microorganisms, although a relatively high optimum temperature, 55°C, was found for xylanase. All enzymes showed a 90% reduction of half-life time for each 8°C increment of temperature. A 50% inhibition of xylanase and β-cellobiohydrolase activity was observed, through a competitive mechanism, by xylose (0.677 mmol dm^?3) and cellobiose (28 mmol dm^?3) respectively.